Stingers Thump Nighthawks to Clinch First Place

The Stingers put on a defensive clinic, limiting the Nighthawks to just nine points in the second quarter. Edmonton’s offence was just as potent as its defence was stingy. Xavier Moon and Jordan Baker have taken turns leading the Stingers in scoring at the CEBL Summer Series, but it was Adika Peter-McNeilly who rose to the occasion Monday night.

“I just thought we came out with urgency, and when we do that we’re really tough, especially when we hang our hats on defensive rebounding,” Small said. “Seeing that we won the glass by plus-18, I couldn’t be more happy and proud of our effort. Once again, we just have a really great group of guys that have all bought into their role and do what it takes to win.”

Peter-McNeilly scored a game-high 21 points and also snagged nine rebounds (four offensive). Peter-McNeilly scored one timely basket after another and although he shot just 1-of-6 from three-point territory, his ability to penetrate allowed Travis Daniels and Baker to be available for dump passes on the interior after Peter-McNeilly broke down his defender.

Edmonton outscored Guelph in each of the first three quarters until the Nighthawks awoke in the final frame, outscoring the Stingers 26-18 in the fourth. Joel Friesen did his best to spur a Nighthawks comeback, knocking down three three-pointers and 11 of his team-high 14 points in the quarter. Although the Nighthawks’ bench had a strong outing, Edmonton’s size and ability to control the glass paid dividends as the Stingers prevented extra possessions and wore Guelph down on the glass. Edmonton outrebounded Guelph, 51-33.

The Nighthawks trailed by as many as 23 points and cut the deficit to 11 points in the fourth quarter, only for Daniels to calmly step back and drain a three-pointer to seal the game. 

“We just breed a different kind of pedigree,” said Daniels, who finished with 17 points of his own. “We just come in and we’re together as a team. We kind of came together on and off the court, and we’ve just figured things out since the first game.”

With the win, the Stingers receive a first-round bye and four days of rest and preparation for their opponent in the semifinals of the CEBL Summer Series on Saturday. Guelph’s final game of the round robin is against Fraser Valley on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT). Seeding implications are on the line as both clubs have 3-2 records and will look to solidify a second-place finish and the last remaining bye for the semifinals.

However, if Ottawa wins its last two games of the round robin against Niagara and Saskatchewan, then the BlackJacks will advance to the semifinals by virtue of having defeated both Fraser Valley and Guelph.

“Hats off to Edmonton, they just played with a lot more toughness and physicality than we did. I think that was the main difference,” said Nighthawks head coach and general manager Charles Kissi. “We’ve bounced back before and now we’ve lost another one – we didn’t expect to go 6-0. We’re going to figure it out.”

All CEBL Summer Series games are available to watch on Twitch, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem App. A complete broadcast schedule can be found here.